Direct reading, visual index forming, intersection pattern thread and line counter



Unite DIRECT READING, VISUAL INDEX FORMING, INTERSECTION PATTERN THREAD AND LINE COUNTER The present invention relates to a direct reading, visual index forming, intersecton pattern thread and line counter.

Although not restricted thereto, the present invention will particularly describe its application to thread counters or line counters in which it is possible accurately to measure the spacing of the weft and warp threads of a woven fabric or even the spacing of ruled lines upon a sheet of plastic or glass by means of a visual intersection pattern.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel, compact pattern thread and line counter which Will be` light weight, inexpensive to manufacture, and which will, Without eyestrain and difiiculty, enable a ready determination of the pick, thread or line count of a parallel line system being measured, whether it be woven cloth or ruled sheet, plastic or glass.

Another object is to provide a novel, direct reading, visual index forming intersection pattern thread and line counter which will give a high definition and clarity of intersection pattern and in which the images will be condensed and sharpened so as to be directly read without magnifying implements or special reading equipment.

Another object is to provide a parallel line counter which, by means of a predetermined hyperboloid intersection pattern, Will give a Sharp reading from which a line count or pattern count may be readily determined, Without latent or double image diffculties, without lateral distortion and diffuseness and with an utmost clarity and definition.

A further object is to give a compact, lightweight, accurate, clearly readable thread or line counter which will provide uniform sharpness of pattern without Variation, with varying pck count, and which will give uniformly clear and sharply defined readings, even though the diameter or denier of the thread widely varies over the portion of the fabric being measured.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scopeiand spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects, it has been found most satisfactory, according to one embodirnent of the present invention, to provide a pie-shaped or angularshaped transparent structure having a plurality of radiating spaced grooves, which grooves are of increasing Width or of increasing depth, or both, as they extend away from a point of origin of the device or as they eXtend away from the narrowest portion of the Wedge or triangular thape. It has been found that the intensity and clarity of the interference or hyperbolic pattern is best achieved by causing the grooves to be of triangular cross-section and to -fill the grooves with aV clear lacquer or varnsh which will give rise to a lenticular effect. This is accomplished by partly filling' the grooves and rounding the top surface thereof. Then, as a final protection, desirably the entire at tent lCC top area or reading area of the counter is coated with a clear varnsh or lacquer. The pie-shaped sector of convergent radial grooves of increasing depth or increasing Width, or both, as they diverge, will produce an unusually distinct, definite and condenscd visual intersection pattern when placed upon a set of equi-distant parallel lines such as ruled lines or woven threads whose spacing is to be measured.

This is particularly so in connection with the present invention, where the radial side edges of the triangularcross-section grooves are divergent and where the grooves become deeper, and Where parallel side lines are avoided. As a result, by placing the device upon a sheet o' plate of material countaining parallel ruled lines or upon a woven fabric, there will be formed by intersection pattern families of conjugate hyperbolae, with the transference asymptote of this system cutting the marginal scales of the device at a point corresponding to the pick or line count of the parallel lines being measured.

This clarity and condensation of the image is greatly enhanced where the grooves, particularly. triangular crosssection grooves, having divergent side edges and decreasing depth as far as the lower edges are concerned, are partly filled with plastic or varnsh which will form a concave meniscus from edge to edge of the grooves, giving a very sharp focussed intersection pattern. This focussing effect is then enhanced by coating the entire line surface with a compatible transparent varnsh or lacquer. Desirably, the filling lacquer and the coating varnsh or lacquer should have contrasting or dtering optical refractive qualities to assure maximum convergence of the visual intersection pattern. The edges of the grooves in all cases should be covered by the lacquer in such a manner that the sharp edge of the groove Will be coated by rounded lacquer surfacing of contrasting refractive power, with the result that both the bottom of the groove and the edge of the groove will have, respectively, a concave and convex lenticular efect.

In the preferred form of the invention, the bottom of the grooves may be filled with a less transparent or sometimes even an opaque filler which desirably should be substantially below the upper edges of the grooves and not flush With the surface of the plate, and it has been found that the best interference pattern is obtained where the grooves or pattern lines are only partly filled With the opaque, translucent or less transparent filler material.

The Sharp edges of the grooves, in all cases, however, should be unobscured by opaque, translucent or opalescent material, and the coatings applied thereto which give a convex lenticular eifect should be clear and transparent, even though they may have a different and sharper refractive index.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings7 wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention7 but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifi- Ications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings, wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the direct reading, visual index forming intersection pattern thread and line counter, according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a partial top plan view of the groove or line system before the lines or grooves have been partly filled or processed to give opaquing and lenticular efiects.

Fg. 3 is a transverse longitudinal sectional view showing the decreasing depth of the groove and .also the decreasing thickness of the material, upon an enlarged scale as compared to Fig. 2.

vFig. 4` is a fragmentary perspective sectional view of the pattern plate, showing the angular radial groove edges and their Sharp side edges, as well as the triangular cross-Section.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail plan` view, showingV the various steps in the filling and coatingof thegrooves of Figs. 2, 3 and 4 to obtain the varying opaque and lenticular effects of the final counter device of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary transverse Sectional view upon an enlarged scale upon the line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary tranSverSe Sectional view upon the line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view upon the line 8-8 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view upon the line 9-9 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 10 is a diagrammatie top plan view, showing the result of the application of the pattern thread and line counter of the present invention to a typical woven fabric illustrating the visual intersection pattern that is 'formed Fig. 11 is a fragmentary transverse sectional view of an alternative embodiment with an extra lens arrangement.

Referring particularly to FigS. 1 and 10, there is shown a frame A which may be made of an opaque plastic material having a central pie-Shaped or wedge-shaped transparent element with divergent triangular grooves C. The edges of the pie-shaped or triangular section are provided with graduated Scales D and E which, respectively, are graduated in lines per centimeter and lines per inch.

Referring to Fg. 10 where the device of Fig. l is placed upon a fabric or ruled sheet of material indicated at G, a hyperbolic pattern H will be formed and the visual intersection pattern resulting will give the reading points indicated at J and K along the Scales D and E, enabling a reading of the count of parallel threads or ruled lines.

Referring particularly to Figs. 2, 3 and 4, the flat plane surface 10 carrying the grooves C is transparent and the edges 11 of the grooves as well as the bottoms of the grooves are Sharp and distinct, without curvature, as is best indicated in Fig. 4. It will be noted that the side edges 11 diverge from each other, with the edges at lla adjacent the narrower end being much more closely spaced than the edges 111) at the wider end. It has been found preferable to have the edges all originate from a Single point or center from which the edges 111), as well as the bottom edges 12, will converge, which will be to the right of Figs. l, 2 and 10. It will also be noted, by reference to Fig. 3, that desirably the groove will get deeper as it progresses from right to left, with the bottom edge 12a being quite shallow at the right of Fig. 3, and the edge 1211 being much below the surface 10 and much deeper.

At the same time, the optical efect which it is desired to acheve is enhanced by decreasing thickness of the material, with increasing depth and increasing width of the groove C. This is indicated at lila where the material is thickest and in ltlb where it is thinnest. Although not preferred, a series of grooves on the underside of the plate B might also be provided, as indicated at M, which will even give a more condensed and stronger effect.

Although each one of these elements contributes to the maximum condensed and Sharp pattern effect as indicated in Fig. 10, each 'arrangemenh by itself, will enhance the condensation and decrease the diifuseness, namely the increased spacing of the side edges lla to 111). the decreased depth of the bottom from 12a to 1217, the decreased thickness from 10a to 10b and the undersystem of grooves as indicated at M, which also, if desired, may have increasing depth and increasing Width from right to left.

To enhance the effect achieved by the groove system previously described, the bottom edges of the grooves C are desirably filled with an opaque material or, less preferably, with a translucent or opalescent material, which will, however, leave the edges 11 free and clear, So that they will remain in their sharp-edged condition without obstruction.

Then, to acheve the lenticular eiect, the entire groove system, as indicated at the left of Fig. 5 in zone R, is filled with the opaque material 20, giving the covered etfect as indicated at zone S.

As indicated in Fig. 7, where Zone S of Fig. 5 is shown in cross-section, the opaque material 20 will fill the grooves as indicated at 21 and also form a film 22 over the surface 10. While the filler material 20 is Still plastic, it is wiper off the top surface 10 and also from the edges 11, to give the concave meniscus effect 23. This will take place in Zone T in Fg. 5, shown in cross-Section in Fig. 8. Then a smooth even coat of lacquer 24 is applied, which will have a concave portion at 25 above the opaque material 23 and which will also form the convex lenticular portions over the Sharp edges 11 of the groove C, as best shown in Fig. 9.

This lacquer coating is applied at zone W, as shown in Figs. 5 and 9. It is desirable that the lacquer surfacing 24 be even, and have the same thickness over both the grooves C as well as over the flat surfaces 10, With the curve at 26 giving the lenticular effect, so that there Will be a condensed curved concex lens along each edge 11. Thus, the convex curved lenses 26 on each side of the opaque residual material 23 will focus and condense the pattern system H, as shown in Fig. 10, giving a highly condensed and spectacular eiect. Desirably, the refractive index of the varnish material should be Somewhat greater than the refractive index of the material which forms the plate B, and the most Satisfactory material for this purpose has been found to be a thin layer of cellulose acetate placed upon a base plate of glass or even of an acrylic plastic. However, the plates may be made of various types of Synthetic plastics such as polyamide, condensation products such as nylon, cellulose esters or ethers, methyl methacrylate resins.

With such a design, the sharpness of the pattern is remarkable and will enable quick reading and definition of the reading points J and K when superimposed upon the woven fabric G.

Desirably, the frame A may be made of a metal or opaque plastic which will carry the pie-Shaped or Wedgeshaped graduated or grooved plate B.

If desired, for some purposes an extra lenticular effect may be achieved by providing a convex surface along the spaces 35 between the grooves C. This is best shown in Fig. 11. However, this is not the preferred embodiment.

As many changes could be made in the above direct reading, visual index forming intersection pattern thread and line counter, and many widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

l. A visual index, intersecting pattern measuring device for measuring spacing of parallel lines and threads on ruled sheets, plates and woven fabrics, comprising a transparent plate member having a plurality of diverging V-cross Section grooves having Sharp corners at their top edges and diverging sides and opaquing material covering the bottoms and sides of the grooves and leaving the top Sharp corners uncovered, and a varnish material covering the grooves so that said Sharp corners are covered with a convex layer of material giving a lenticular eflt'ect.

2. A visual index, intersecting pattern measuring device for measuring spacing of parallel lines and threads on ruled sheets, plates and woven fabrics, comprising a transparent plate member having a plurality of diverging Al. L

V-cross section grooves having sharp corners at their top edges and diverging sides and opaqung material covering the bottoms and sides of the grooves and leaving the top sharp corners uncovered, and a varnish material covering the grooves so that said sharp corners are covered With a convex layer of material giving a lenticular effect, said grooves all extending to a common center point and consisting of radii diverging outwardly from said common center point.

3. A visual index, intersecting pattern measuring device for measuring spacing of parallel lines and threads on ruled sheets, plates and woven fabrics, comprising a transparent plate member having a plurality of dverging V-cross section grooves having sharp corners at their top edges and diverging sides and opaqung material covering the bottoms and sides of the grooves and leaving the top Sharp corners uncovered, and a varnish material covering the grooves so that said Sharp corners are covered With a convex layer of material giving a lenticular eflect, said grooves being of increasing depth outwardly from their point of convergence.

4. A visual index, intersecting pattern measuring device for measuring spacing of parallel lines and threads on ruled sheets, plates and woven fabrics, comprising a transparent plate member having a plurality of diverging V-cross section grooves having Sharp corners at their top edges and diverging sides and opaqung material covering the bottoms and sides of the grooves and leaving the top sharp corners nncovered, and a varnish material covering the grooves so that said sharp corners are covered With a convex layer of material giving a lenticular efiect, the material of said plate under each groove being of decreasing thickness as the grooves diverge from their center point.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,478,536 Servais Dec. 25, 1923 2,174,899 Selsky Oct. 3, 1939 2,508,058 Bradley May 16, 1950 2,559,915 Gaebel July 10, 1951 

